The Story So Far...
| The Story So Far... |
September 9th 2008. Found some information on how to include a favourite icon, (favicon.ico) in the the address bar using the following code... <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" /> by placing it in the head of the document and creating an icon that is no more than 16 x 16 pixels using a maximum of 16 colours. |
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September 8th 2008. I was introduced to background images in combination with the basic background colour and how they can dramatically change the appearance of a page bringing it more to life, (see top of page). To complement these changes I created a new page in the "How It's Made..." section describing how I created the watermark style background image from a standard photograph. |
August 30th 2008. Decided to add a complete new section to cover all accessories that I have purchased and put to use past and present. This meant re-designing the index page to incorporate the new accessories page navigation link, it also meant changing the navigation button link bar that features on all other pages. The Accessories page is as yet under construction and so far the only link with any content near completion is the Lenses section. |
July 31st 2008. Added a new page to the "Techno" section! I was asked why cropping occurred to a photograph taken on one digital camera when printed on 5" x 7" paper but did not crop when taken on a different camera but printing out the image using the same paper size. Put simply it depends on the sensor size... |
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June 16th 2008. Added a new page to the "Homebrew" section the homemade item being a tripod quick release block that fixes to the base of the camera. This device allows you to remove the camera from the tripod without undoing any screw threads which is a good idea, however if you have more than one camera you need more than one block and they are about £25 each so I decided to make my own. |
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June 8th 2008. This site is now one year old with this host, (GameStone)! Purchased yet another DSLR which is a few generations more advanced than my Olympus E-500, this one being the Olympus E-510 DSLR. This new camera boasts 10 Million pixels as opposed to the E-500's 8 Million and includes "Live View" and built in Image Stabalisation. |
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May 11th 2008. Finally got around to doing a bit more to the site mainly due to the purchase of a new camera, (a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170s). This meant I needed to add a new page which also meant photographing and editing images of the new camera (for this I used my Olympus E500 and Paint Shop Pro 7). Lastly I had to change the layout of the "All Cameras" page to incorporate the new Sony camera. |
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March 22nd 2008. Made a few extra images to create different style rollover buttons this time a simple square style of two different sizes, (48 x 48 pixels and 24 x 24 pixels). I have made them available in the form of a downloadable web page should anyone like my images and fancy them for themselves. Expanded on the "Techno" page by adding another page to do with multiple flash "ƒ" number formulas and typical simple layout example diagrams. |
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March 3rd 2008. Constructed another tutorial page and added a link to the "How It's Made" page to try and explain with the use of stage by stage images how I made the gradient style rollover buttons. Some of the images link to "Fly-out" images of screen shots taken whilst using Paint Shop Pro 7 to create the button images. Also included a link to another page where you are able to download the code required to make the "Rollover" work. Whilst I was about it, I re-designed the "How It's Made" page so the layout was more in keeping with the rest of the site. |
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February 23rd 2008. Found a free PDF document maker online called PrimoPDF that works in Windows Vista. I used it to make a PDF document version of the Miranda MS-1 Super Manual using Microsoft Word to layout the pages then selecting print and choosing PrimoPDF from the drop down menu. Finished a bit more of the Sony Cyber shot DSC-W1 page by adding some example pictures to the page and generally cleaning up the layout. Ran the validate markup page checker and the spell checker to try and tidy up any general errors for the whole site. |
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February 15th 2008. It occurred to me that some people out there still use Feet and Inches when taking their "distance to subject" measurements and that my Aperture Calculator is designed to input data in Meters. So to accommodate those of you who prefer to use the old Imperial measurements I have included a conversion calculator on the Aperture Calculator page! Also included is an ISO Guide Number Converter for those whose Guide Number is not given at ISO 100. |
February 8th 2008. Having got my head around this Server-Side Include lark and updating all the relevant pages I decided to go one step further and have a go at JavaScript. I thought it would be useful to include a calculator of sorts for working out the aperture, ( ƒ ) values for a particular powered flashgun using the Flashguns "Guide Number" in the formula, it is a bit basic but hey it works! |
February 4th 2008. It was politely pointed out to me by a friend that if I wanted to add another Navigation button I would have to edit every page that contained the change so why did I not use "Server-Side Include" for my headers and footers, that way only one file would need to change to perform an update. To be honest I did not know quite what this was and I have been experimenting to see if I can make it work. So far so good I think! |
January 20th 2008. Having got over the Christmas period I find I have a bit more time on my hands to continue building the site. Continuing with the "Techno" section I have started yet another page describing the use of Slave Units on flashguns and how older style flashguns can still be used with DSLR cameras even though they ar not compatible. |
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December 31st 2007. Last entry for this year! Another section added to the "Techno" page to explain how to use a Flashgun Guide Number to work out the correct aperture setting for a particular set up. It also explains the relationship between "ƒ" numbers and why certain formulas are used to work out the "ƒ" value. |
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December 18th 2007. Purchased some new Olympus E-500 Digital SLR Camera bits while on holiday as they were so cheap compared to the UK prices. As a result I have updated the Olympus page to include some of the new items, these being mainly a new lens and an adapter lens for wide angle and close up macro photography. |
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December 4th 2007. Added yet another page to complement the "Tripod Extender Kit" part of the "Homebrew" page which consists of links to technical drawings of the homemade pieces. I used Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition to create these images which was probably not the best program for drawing with, as a consequence the drawings are actually png images and not text as they appear. |
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November 24th 2007. Tinkered about with the index page to accommodate some extra pages those being the "Techno" page and the "Homebrew" page. The idea of these two pages is to show formulas and images to explain certain camera set up aspects and to also show and explain homemade items that I have made or adapted for different applications. |
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October 14th 2007. One of the most common requests I have been receiving is for a user manual for the Miranda MS-1 Super. This is a bit ironic as that page was only added as a point of interest due to the reference in the Olympus section. In response to these requests I have started a "User Manual" page that can be viewed as a web style page from various links around the site. |
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September 1st 2007. |
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August 31st 2007. |
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August 11th 2007. |
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August 2nd 2007. |
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July 28th 2007. My friend showed me how to add a "Contact Me" page with a form and authorization number so as to be able to receive comments and questions by way of e-mail from genuine people and not those that put out spam. Finished off the spinning logo section on the "How It's Made" page, I also added a bit more by way of pictures and specifications to the Fujifilm Finepix 2600 Zoom page. |
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July 20th 2007. As I made reference to my old Miranda SLR camera on the Olympus page I decided to build a new page dedicated to it. Whilst about it I decided to include two more additional pages so as to cover all the digital cameras that I have previously owned or now own the additions being a Fujifilm DX-10 (my first digital camera) and a Fujifilm Finepix A2600 Zoom. I also grouped page colours into themes, (cameras blue, tutorials green, general pages red/pink). |
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July 15th 2007. Added another page to the "How It's Made" section describing how I captured and edited the image for the small Olympus overhead camera picture, created a new style sheet for this page using a "green" theme, not to sure about it at the moment could be a bit to bright. Also changed the background colour to the Fujifilm page to a more cool blue, again not to sure if it is going to stay like this! |
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July 7th 2007. Changed the "Index" page layout so that there is a link to a page that contains a common link page to the cameras pages rather than having individual page links on the index page. |
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July 4th 2007. American Independence Day! Tidied up some graphics on the Fujifilm Finepix F420 page and added some flyout pictures to the front and rear camera views using the Highslide script. I also added some "Back To Top" links on some more pages (including this one) to make navigating the page easier. Installed Mozilla Firefox 2 to go with Internet Explorer 7 as an alternative checking browser and tidied up some page errors so the site looked more uniform. |
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June 30th 2007. Introduced some new images some of which are shown here to the SZ Button page. Some are made from screen shots to show a visual aid of the tools used to make the button. I also used some javascript from a site my friend told me about called Highslide, it is free for home use, $29 for commercial use, so I guess as long as the site is not designed to make money it's free to use. It enables multiple images to open in their own windows that can then be dragged around the screen allowing viewing of the original page. |
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June 24th 2007. Started to create some images for the Olympus page with the intention of keeping the same layout as the Fujifilm page but this time having a larger image linked to the smaller image. I used the Fujifilm camera to photograph my Olympus camera while it was supported on a tripod using a white door as the backdrop with the camera positioned about 3 feet in front of the door to reduce shadow. Then I messed around a bit in Paint Shop Pro 7 to resize, crop and generally adjust until reasonable for posting on the site. |
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June 19th 2007. I made three new png images and created a navigation button on the main page that changed to an orange border button when passed over with the mouse and that emulated a button being pressed that when clicked on linked to this page. I also decided to remove the word "link" as it looked a bit obvious that the button was meant to do something. Re-arranged this page layout so that there were no underlines that could be mistaken as a link and so the latest update could be read first. |
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June 13th 2007. Created new style sheet for the old Fujifilm F420 review but kept most of the original layout, blue text on a slightly off-white/yellow background. I also found some of the original gif images that I used to make the page and converted them to png images to use less web space. |
June 8th 2007. I started building this web site in April 2005 when I was given some free web space by Freeserve. Since then the company has changed to Wanadoo then finally to Orange. I decided to change my Internet Service Provider to Sky because it would work out cheaper but I did not realize that Orange were going to delete the site that I had previously built. So after some while I decided to open a Yahoo account for e-mail and found I could get some free web space again! So here I am re-building the site I had before but with a few changes. The graphics are all new but some of the reviews or comments date back to the original site build date. |
Established 8th June 2007 © 2007 Steve's Zone... |
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